openLCA Version 1.7.4 is now available! (Release date: October, 2018). We recommend you install this version. Our tests have not shown any issues, but should you run into any, please let us know. Thanks in advance!

The LCA Collaboration Server is a server application that complements openLCA (the LCA desktop application). It facilitates exchange and synchronisation of LCA data (e.g. flows, processes, product systems or entire LCA models) between users who work from different computers, enabling distributed, collaborative LCA modelling. The Collaboration Server introduces industry-established concepts from software development to the LCA world, with e.g. on-demand tracking of changes as well as comparison of databases and optional merging of data. It is so far unique. The Collaboration Server is available for free. Support is available on demand. For requesting new features or reporting bugs please refer to our LCA Collaboration Server GitHub log.

Several impact methods for use in openLCA are available. The methods are provided for free, as openLCA databases, which can be easily imported into openLCA. If you have any comments or would like to submit own methods, please let us know.

A comprehensive package of environmental impact assessment methods for use with all different databases available in the nexus system – including ecoinvent 3, GaBi and ELCD is available here. It includes normalisation and weighting as far as this is foreseen by the method. Please observe the license* (Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International) while using it. Please provide feedback – thanks in advance!

Detailed information on the methods available in the LCIA method pack is available here (pdf, 801 kB). Last update: February 20th, 2017. A major update was the update of the ILCD 2011 method from version 1.0.5 from February 2013 to version 1.0.10 from August 2016. More information about the update procedure can be found here (pdf, 1.14 MB).

Quality assurance of the implemented methods has been carried out and is available here (pdf, 381 kB).

Older versions of the openLCA LCIA methods:

Database for openLCA 1.4 and 1.5 (zolca file, 19 MB) with normalisation and weighting factors. Last update: March 22nd, 2016. (Detailed information on the methods available in the LCIA method pack is available here (pdf, 757 kB). Last update: March 16th, 2015.)

Database for openLCA 1.3.4 (olca file, 19 MB), with normalisation and weighting factors. This format has not been supported since May of 2014, with the exception of adding the Cumulative Energy Demand method on January 5th, 2015.

EcoSpold01 (zip archive, 12 MB) without normalisation values as the format does not allow this. Last update: March 16th, 2015.

LCIA method containing the different environmental indicators specified in the norm EN 15804:2012 for the creation of Environmental Product Declarations (EDPs) of the building and construction sector. The LCIA method can be used with LCI databases, such as GaBi, available in the nexus system and the EPD Editor plugin of openLCA in order to create new EPD datasets compliant with the EN 15804 and the Ökobaudat database. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know!

With permission of the ecoinvent centre, we are happy to be able to provide, for free, the LCIA methods of the ecoinvent database. LCIA methods packs for the ecoinvent databases 2.2, 3.01, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and, since January 2018, ecoinvent 3.4 are available for download in openLCA Nexus. These LCIA methods should be used to reproduce the LCIA results published by the ecoinvent centre. They are not intended to be used with other openLCA Nexus databases because the impact characterisation factors included in them refer only to the openLCA elementary flows used by the ecoinvent databases. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know!

AWARE is a regionalised Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methodfor water scarcity in openLCA. AWARE quantifies the relative Available WAter REmaining per (specified) area after satisfying the demand of aquatic ecosystems and anthropogenic activities. Aim of AWARE is to assess the extent to which water users in an area are at risk of water scarcity. The findings are translated into a characterisation factor (CF) that ranges between 0.1 and 100. The characterisation factors can be utilised for calculating the water scarcity footprint in accordance with ISO 14046.

AWARE is the result of a two-year consensus building process developed by WULCA, a working group of the UNEP SETAC Life Cycle Initiative. AWARE is used for instance within the Environmental Footprint Initiative of the European Commission for Product Environmental Footprints (PEF).

Since version 1.6, openLCA supports data quality systems for process data sets and for exchanges (in process data sets). The ecoinvent and PSILCA databases from Nexus are already containing data quality systems, here below a collection of schemas to be used for assessing data quality in a product system calculation in openLCA.